Aldebaran
Aldebaran(α Tau, α Tauri,AlphaTauri) is an orange giantstar.[1][2]It is about 65light yearsaway in thezodiacconstellationofTaurus.With an averageapparent magnitudeof 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and isone of the brightest starsin the nighttime sky.
The diameter of Aldebaran is 61,277,920 km which is 38,076,334 miles. The planetary exploration probePioneer 10is heading in the general direction of the star. It should make its closest approach in about two million years.
In 1993 a companion body was reported. A paper recently accepted shows evidence for aplanetarycompanion.[3]
Name: The nameAldebaranisArabic(الدبرانal-dabarān) and means "the Follower", probably because it rises near and soon after thePleiades.[4]
References
[change|change source]- ↑"Oxford Dictionary: Aldebaran".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-06-09.Retrieved2016-01-17.
- ↑Merriam-Webster: Aldebaran
- ↑Hatzes A.P; Cochran W.D.et al2015. Long-lived, long-period radial velocity variations in Aldebaran: a planetary companion and stellar activity.Astronomy and Astrophysics.[1]
- ↑Kaler, James B. (May 22, 2009)."Aldebaran".Stars.Archived fromthe originalon 10 January 2010.Retrieved2009-12-20.